Wig Out at Jagbags
7 January 2014
Matador/Domino
4 stars out of 5
On “Lariat,” the third track off Wig Out at Jagbags, Stephen Malkmus sings, “We grew up listening to
the music from the best decade ever.” He then proceeds over the rest of the
album’s twelve songs to reference the music of every decade from the 1960s up to
the present, from the Grateful Dead to Foxygen, with shout outs (direct or
indirect) to Can, the Pixies, and Eminem along the way. While it’s fun to play
the name-that-influence game here, what makes this record a truly enjoyable
listen is how perfectly Malkmus’s lyrics meld with the Jicks’ music, and vice
versa. The elaborate and intricate arrangements of what amount to some very
good songs offer many possible points of entry for the listener to dive into
Malkmus’s world of clever word play and loving nostalgia.
“Shibboleth” comes across as a Doolittle outtake, complete with signature Kim Deal-esque chugging bass
line and Black Francis-style grad school lyrics. “Chartjunk” sees Malkmus
channelling his inner Billy Joel (seriously) against a horn section and a
bouncy power pop structure straight out of Dwight Tilley territory. “Rumble at
the Rainbo,” an ode to Malkmus’s punk scene roots (“no one here has changed,
and no one ever will”), breaks down rather appropriately into a reverbed-out
dub ending. “Surreal Teenagers” unfolds like a lost Pink Floyd tune with
flourishes provided by John Zorn.
This is all fine and good, but is this record good enough to
stand in its own without the listener needing to know the complete history of
pop music over the last fifty years in order to “get it”? The short answer: Yes.
Very yes. Wig Out at Jagbags is a
window into the mind of a master lyricist at the top of his game. Malkmus’s
justified confidence in his craft is apparent throughout. It might be a
shock to realize that his solo career has already lasted four years longer than
that of Pavement; this knowledge might also explain why one doesn’t mourn the
death of Pavement while listening to this new offering, but instead celebrates
the life of the Jicks.
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